CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.2

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Reading a Cause-Effect Paragraph and Essay

Before you explore the causes and effects of a specific situation that interests you, you'll want to see how other students explored their topics. Read the cause-effect paragraph and essay in this lesson and answer the questions about them. Think about how the writer puts ideas together and how you might, as well.

Reading a Cause-Effect Paragraph

A cause-effect paragraph explains the causes and effects of a certain event, condition, or occurrence. The topic sentence introduces a cause-effect connection. The body sentences give examples of specific causes or effects. The ending sentence sums up the cause-effect relationship.

Sample Cause-Effect Paragraph

California’s Fresh Water Shortage

Topic SentenceA fresh water shortage is changing the way Californians live and do business. California’s fresh water is in short supply due to a record drought and rising temperatures.Body Sentences As a result, the state’s government enforced restrictions on water usage for cities and residents. Farmers have been forced to use costly groundwater reserves to grow crops. Snowless mountains have hurt the tourism industry, especially ski resorts. Meanwhile, drying forests increase the chances of dangerous wildfires. Ending SentenceWithout rain, Californians must continue to take measures to conserve fresh water.

Respond to the cause-effect paragraph.

Answer these questions about the reading.

What cause-effect relationship does the paragraph explore?
Does the paragraph focus mostly on the causes or effects of the topic?

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Finding Supporting Details and Using Evidence from Sources

Finding Supporting Details

Each controlling sentence in a text is supported with different types of details. Note how the following focus statement is supported by different details.

Focus statement: Most people don’t give much thought to umbrellas, but these marvels of engineering have an interesting history.

Supporting Details	Example
Facts are ideas that can be proven true or false.	The first collapsible umbrella belonged to Wang Mang in China in 21 C.E.
Statistics are ideas expressed in numbers.	According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest umbrella is 56 feet wide and weighs 4,850 pounds.
Definitions tell what a word means.	The word umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning “shadow.” The word parasol comes from the Italian word para for “protecting against” and the word sole for “sun.”
Examples show how an idea works in specific situations.	Life guards, picnickers, and even the Pope use parasols to block the sun.
Descriptions tell what something looks, feels, smells, tastes, or sounds like.	Ancient Egyptians made umbrellas from palm fronds or giant feathers attached to central posts.
Anecdotes tell little stories to make a big point.	Umbrellas fell out of fashion when the umbrella-toting Neville Chamberlain became infamous for giving in to Hitler.
Quotations give the exact words of someone.	The politician Al Smith once noted, “The American people never carry an umbrella. They prepare to walk in eternal sunshine.”

By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Understanding, Analyzing, and Inferring Controlling Sentences

Understanding Controlling Sentences

As you read, watch for two types of controlling sentences:

A focus statement tells what an essay or article is about. It usually appears at the end of the first paragraph.

Many features of games make them powerful tools for learning.

A topic sentence tells what a paragraph is about. It usually appears at the start of a middle paragraph.

To start with, games are fun, and fun actually promotes learning.

Find controlling sentences.

In the following brief article, underline each controlling sentence.

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By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Closely Reading Nonfiction

To read closely, remember SQ3R—Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review.

Survey, question, and read.

Use these instructions to closely read the following essay.

Survey the text: Highlight the title, author, and headings.
Question the topic and purpose: Write comments on the document.
Read the text: Underline the focus statement and topic sentences.

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By Anonymous (not verified), 12 March, 2026

Warm-Up for Reading and Writing Assessments

Reading helps you learn any subject. Writing helps you share what you've learned. That's why these two skills are critical in all your classes. That's also why major assessments test your ability to read and write.

What Is Assessment?

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Assessment is another word for test. Some assessments will test your ability to read and write. The reading and writing you do every day at school and home will help you get ready for these assessments. This unit will also help.

In the following activities, you’ll learn about close reading—reading to understand the focus statement, topic sentences, details, and vocabulary of the nonfiction texts you’re assigned. You’ll also learn about on-demand writing—writing to develop your own ideas during an assessment. Strong reading skills help you write and vice versa.

In this unit, you’ll learn the reading and writing skills that you need to succeed in nonfiction assessment. If you’d like to try out these skills, see the unit “Practice Test for Reading and Writing.”

Thinking About Close Reading

To read closely, you need to think about the ideas in a text. You can do this by asking and answering questions. For starters, use the 5 W’s and H.

Friendship

Friendship A dictionary contains a definition of friendship somewhere in the F’s between the words “fear” and “Friday.” An encyclopedia supplies interesting facts on friendship. But all the definitions and facts do not convey what friendship is really all about. It cannot be understood through words or exaggerations. The only way to understand friendship is through experience. It is an experience that involves all the senses. Friendship can be seen. It is seen in an old couple sitting in the park holding hands.

Cheating in America

Cheating in America Did you know that 7 out of 10 students have cheated at least once in the past year? Did you know that 50 percent of those students have cheated more than twice? These shocking statistics are from a survey of 9,000 U.S. high school students. Incredibly, teachers may even be encouraging their students to cheat! Last year at a school in Detroit, teachers allegedly provided their students with answers to statewide standard tests. Students at the school told investigators that they were promised pizza and money if they cheated on the test as told.

Summer: 15 Days or 2 1/2 Months?

Summer: 15 Days or 2 1/2 Months? The final bell rings. It’s the last day of school, and summer has finally come! Students don’t have to think about school for at least another 2 1/2 months. That is the way it should always be. Schools should continue using the traditional calendar and not a year-round schedule. There are numerous downsides to year-round schooling. It has no positive effects on education, it adds to costs, and it disrupts the long-awaited summer vacation. Contrary to the well-accepted belief, year-round schooling has no constructive impact on education.

Hang Up and Drive

Hang Up and Drive You see it every day, especially in freeway traffic. A car is weaving back and forth, speeding up then slowing down, or suddenly stopping. No, it’s not a drunk driver. It’s a cell-phone driver. Cell phones are used everywhere, but on the road they are a dangerous distraction to drivers and should be prohibited. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that “motorists using a cell phone were four times more likely to have an accident than those not using a phone.” The major problem is that the driver is not focused on the road, but on his or her conversation.

Musical Arts

Musical Arts “Fine arts are important in the curriculum because of what they do for learning,” stated Patty Taylor, arts consultant for the California State Department of Education. In other words, the arts, especially music, should be part of every school’s curriculum at every grade level. Music makes students smarter, gives children something positive to do, and builds self-confidence. Most students don’t have a chance to learn music outside of school, and everyone deserves that opportunity. Students would be much smarter if they had some music experience.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.2